Q: What do the following words have in common?
"awesome", "fascinating", "incredible", "marvelous", "prodigious", "shocking", "stunning", "surprising", "unbelievable", "wonderful"
A: They are all synonyms for "amazing".
However...you don't hear any of those other words used much anymore. Because the only adjective that gets used to describe anything these days seems to be "amazing".
Have you noticed that right now, absolutely everything is "amazing"? It is the adjective du jour. Every time I overhear a cell phone conversation on the bus (which is a lot more often than I'd like), it's pretty much guaranteed I will hear the phrase, "It was amazing". If it's a twenty-something who is having the conversation, then it was "...like, SO amazing." They might be describing last night's pizza, a new brand of lip gloss or the latest episode of "Lost"...makes no difference. Whatever it was, it was amazing!
Remember when everything was described with that other A-word, "awesome"? Mercifully, "awesome" gave way to "amazing". Which would have been just fine, except now there is only "amazing". Apparently, we as a people are only capable of using one adjective at a time.
Earlier this year, Larry King hosted a pre-Oscars show featuring the cast of the musical, Nine. His celebrity panel included everyone from Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz and Fergie to Daniel Day-Lewis, Sophia Loren and Dame Judi Dench. At one point, Larry asked each person on the panel to describe what it was like to make this movie. Every one of them - including the esteemed Dame Judi - answered exactly the same way: "Oh, it was just amazing." I waited to hear Sophia Loren's answer. Surely, the legendary Ms. Loren would never say, "It was amazing" - but sure enough, she added her "amazing" to the chorus. Then Larry asked the director, Rob Marshall, what it was like to work with such an amazing cast. His answer? "What can I say, Larry? It was just amazing."
I have to admit, I am not immune from using the A-word. In fact, I use it way too often. It's become so automatic, I have stop mid-sentence and force myself to describe something as "incredible" or "wonderful" (I still refuse to say "awesome"...and if I ever did, there would be gales of laughter).
There was a time when "amazing" was reserved for people and things that were truly amazing - usually circus acts, magicians, comic book characters or natural wonders. The Flying Wallendas? Now, they were amazing. The Amazing Houdini? He definitely earned the "Amazing" part. The Amazing Spider-Man? Hey, anyone who can scale a 30-story skyscraper and look good in Lycra is amazing in my book. Niagra Falls...The Grand Canyon...Mt. Everest? All pretty darned amazing.
But today, everything from a goat cheese salad to Taylor Swift's latest CD qualifies as "amazing" (the fact that Taylor Swift is even a recording star...well, that's what is truly amazing. But I digress).
I never cease to be amazed at how one word can catch on and suddenly, it's the only word anyone ever uses. You know, it's just like, so, um, unbelievable.
I am on a personal crusade to bring back some old words. Like gyp, obtuse and spaz. We owe it to the younger generation!
Posted by: Rob Hatfield | May 17, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Amazing.
Posted by: Tim Parry | May 19, 2010 at 01:24 PM
HA! I've noticed this as well. I've caught myself using it too much! So today, I'm going with Rob and will try to use spaz in a sentence...whatever THAT means!
Posted by: adchick | June 04, 2010 at 05:04 AM
Isn't it wierd? The word is everywhere. If you watch just a few commercials, you are likely to hear it at least once. Good luck with "spaz" (careful, not sure that's PC).
Posted by: Marcie Judelson | June 04, 2010 at 10:19 AM
Marcie--that is so true. I've also heard a lot of "incredibly" lately. Everything was "incredibly" this or "incredibly" that. Probably "incredibly amazing" too.
Posted by: Mary | June 18, 2010 at 06:36 PM
Mary - You're right about "incredible".
The incredible thing is...I can't stop saying "amazing"!
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I have always hated how especially in the film business, everyone uses "hyper complimenting" when referring to a director or cast or co-star. It's as if only the theatre and film business eptomizes "Amazing people" and wonderful experiences, that the rest of us are missing out on at our shift jobs and cubicles. "Hey Fran?, how was it working with steve on that last merger account?", "Oh my god!,I would dig ditches to work with steve again, it was amazing seeing him collate all the files and mail merge everything, just just sublime an experience!" "AMAZING!!"
Posted by: Jeff Royster | July 06, 2012 at 11:08 AM
Jeff - I laughed out loud in my cubicle (um, work station) when I read your comment.
Truly hilarious.
Posted by: Marcie Judelson | July 10, 2012 at 05:26 PM
So glad marcie,I cannot write worth a cast member on "Newsroom", but I have a lot of great thoughts and quips on stuff. :)-Jeff
Posted by: Jeff Royster | July 11, 2012 at 04:58 PM